


what stars do

by springsoldier (ladydaredevil)



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Stardust Fusion, Fairy Tale Elements, Gen, M/M, Misunderstandings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-22
Updated: 2017-02-22
Packaged: 2018-09-26 05:50:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 14,604
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9870227
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ladydaredevil/pseuds/springsoldier
Summary: When Yuuri goes looking for a fallen star, he expects to find an interesting rock.Victor is many things, but definitely not that.(Stardust AU)





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ohsweetcrepes](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ohsweetcrepes/gifts).



> Thanks for the great prompt, Nin! <3

(The North Star – Victor, to his fellow celestial bodies – has always had a casual interest in the comings and goings of the human world.  Tales of intrigue and romance have long entertained him when dancing isn’t enough to ward off the cold and creeping emptiness of space.

Human lives are fleeting and mostly futile, but they’re so full of _feelings_. Victor can’t help admiring them.

He might have noticed a scene unfolding in the small village of Hasetsu, if he weren’t busy watching the multiple assassination attempts occurring by the bedside of the dying King of Stormhold, on the more interesting side of the Wall.

Regime changes in Stormhold are always quite the event, but we’ll get back to that later.)

 

In a sleepy village next to the Wall, a young man is throwing rocks at his childhood friend’s bedroom window. After the third one he’s regretting the whole idea, and considering going home, when she throws open the blinds, hand over her mouth to stifle her giggles.

“Yuuri! We’re not teenagers anymore!” she stage-whispers down at him.

“Sorry! I didn’t want to knock and wake the children.”

Now that the window is open he can hear her husband’s snoring, and he thinks that maybe he shouldn’t have worried so much about the noise, if they can sleep through _that_.

“Hang on, I’m coming down.”

She emerges a few moments later, throwing him a spare cloak and wrapping hers around her shoulders. It _is_ a little chillier than Yuuri had accounted for, though the night is otherwise beautiful.

“Oh, thanks. I— thought we might stargaze? For old times’ sake.”

He fidgets a little and adds:

“I brought snacks.”

He raises his wicker basket as if to protect himself from embarrassment.

“Alright,” Yuuko says. “So long as we don’t stay out too late. It _has_ been a while, hasn’t it?” She sounds a little apologetic, but Yuuri shrugs. She’s busy, he knows.  

They settle down in the field just out of town, where they can see the Breach. It’s where they used to run around as children, the setting of their Adventures Beyond the Wall. Yuuko was always the one to come up with scenarios inspired by Minako’s stories, but it was Yuuri who loved to pretend they were for real.

 They’d been the only ones to believe her, when everyone else dismissed her tales as the drunken ramblings of a tavern owner who was her own best customer.  

Yuuri doesn’t know what he believes anymore, but he does know that her swordplay is no invention. She’s been teaching him for _years_ , having taken pity on a bored little boy with very few friends.

Yuuri tells some of Minako’s stories to the triplets when he’s watching them, sometimes. He’s not much of a storyteller, the details often hazy in his memory, but they like them well enough.

“The sky really is beautiful tonight,” Yuuko tells him after she’s chewed her way through several of his mother’s steamed buns with noises of appreciation. “It’s been a while since I really looked.”

Yuuri smiles and finds himself wishing, a little unkindly, that she hadn’t married Nishigori. It isn’t that he thinks she’d ever have been interested in _him_ , and he loves her family like his own, but the ever-growing distance between them is always going to be painful.

She has become as successful as one can be in Hasetsu, has her own shop and her daughters and her husband, and very little time for Minako’s stories or Yuuri’s stars, nowadays. Meanwhile he still helps out at his parents’ inn and has no prospects whatsoever, in the work _or_ the romance department. 

“I had that dream again,” he tells her, not sure why he’s bringing it up. “About going beyond the Wall. It’s silly isn’t it? Maybe I should stop drinking with Minako. It was nice to think about when we were children, but now –” He lets his words trail off, and Yuuko is silent for a while. When she speaks, it’s in an uncharacteristically serious tone:

“I think you should go, Yuuri.”

Yuuri laughs, shaking his head.

“What? Yuuko, you can’t mean –”

“I do. You and I both know there’s something out there, and you – you’re meant for more than staying here. Hasetsu is too small for someone with dreams as big as yours”  

They’re quiet as he takes in her words. _Someday_ , he’s always said. But he does have responsibilities at home and he doesn’t have the means to just – go off into the unknown. It’s never been the right moment, and as the years went by it seemed less and less important to leave home.

Could this be the right time?

 There’s a flash of light.

 

(Stars get knocked out of the sky, sometimes. It happens. This time, it’s because the dying King of Stormhold throws the gem that will determine his successor high, high, _high_ in the air, past the clouds and right at Victor, who was just having a chat with his neighbour Mila.

She cries out a warning, but it’s too late.

Victor spends the first few moments of his fall feeling outraged, and then starts worrying about the rapidly approaching ground.

He’s almost certain it won’t kill him.)

 

“A falling star!” Yuuko says, eyes bright with wonder. “What do you think it looks like? It must be _beautiful_.”

It feels like a sign, to Yuuri. He’s not entirely certain a sign of _what_ , but a sign nonetheless.

“Your birthday’s coming up,” he says, suddenly struck by an idea.

“Yes?” Yuuko sounds surprised by the non-sequitur.

“What if I brought you back the star?”

Yuuko’s eyes widen in surprise.

“I certainly don’t _need_ one, but – _Yuuri_ , you’d really do that? For me? It would be such an exciting adventure!”

“Of course!”

Her enthusiasm bolsters his revolve, though he knows that he’ll start to doubt himself as soon as they part ways. She smiles all the way back to her house, but keeps reminding him to make sure he brings enough food, and warm clothes, and to remember to pay attention to the stars so he doesn’t get lost.

“I’ll ask Minako for advice before I set out,” he promises her. He may not be certain of how much is true of Minako’s stories about the world beyond the Wall, but she’s definitely _been_ there, which is more than can be said of anyone else in Hasetsu.

“Be careful out there,” Yuuko says, a little worried. “Even a star isn’t worth getting hurt over.”

“I know.”

Feeling bold, he presses a quick kiss to her cheek. Yuuko smiles, but she sounds a little wistful when she tells him:

“I hope you find everything you’re looking for out there.”

He has a feeling she’s not talking about the star.

He wishes her good night, and goes looking for Minako.

 

It’s easy enough to find her, tending the bar as she always is.

Minako’s clearly had a lot of ale already, but she still seems reasonably coherent. She’s happy to see him, motions for him to sit by her. It’s a slow night – not that Hasetsu is ever very busy, but sometimes she does ask him to help out – so she just pours him a glass and asks what’s troubling him, this time.

“Oh – uh – nothing – It’s just –“

He takes a deep breath, hopes she won’t laugh.  

“Can you tell me about going beyond the Wall?”

“ _Finally!_ ”

“What?”

“I’ve been waiting for you to ask me for _ages._ ”

“You have?”

“Yes! Since you were— oh, twelve, maybe. You were so cute, hardly ever talked except to ask for more stories. You were always going to go. What’s decided you?”

“Yuuko and I saw a falling star. I thought I might go and bring it back for her.”

Minako raises her eyebrows at him, unimpressed.

“She’s married.”

He groans.

“I _know._ It’s not _like_ that.”

“Uh huh.” She sounds unconvinced but stands up, a little abruptly. “Come on, I need to give you something.”

They climb upstairs to her apartment and he sits on her bed, feeling awkward, as she tears through her bedroom. She keeps overturning boxes, their contents spilling all over the floor. Eventually she must find whatever it is she was looking for, because she emerges with a triumphant shout.

“Here it is!” She presents a tube to him with a flourish and he opens it, thinking it might be a map. A black cylinder falls into his lap.

It looks like a candle.

“Thanks?”

“A Babylon candle! The fastest way to travel!”

 He wonders if she may be drunker than he accounted for.

“Um.”

“Well, don’t just stare, Yuuri. Light it, and think of your star, before someone else gets to it!”

Yuuri humours her. He doesn’t expect anything to happen, really. If he _had_ , he’d have picked up supplies, probably waited until morning, warned his parents that he would be away for a little while.

But something _does_ happen, and the ground vanishes beneath him.

 

Yuuri goes sprawling down, and it takes him a moment to realise that there’s a _person_ underneath him. A person he just flew into at a ridiculous speed and threw to the ground.

An _impossibly beautiful_ person. He scrambles away as fast as he can, stuttering apologies.

“I’m so sorry! Are you hurt? I didn’t mean to – _sorry_!”

The man blinks in his direction a few times, a little dazed. Yuuri hopes he hasn’t hit his head.

Eventually he seems to gather his thoughts and he smiles at Yuuri, though he keeps clutching at one of his arms.

“It’s – fine. Don’t worry about it!”

“Are you sure? Your arm –“

“Oh no, that’s from another fall.” He winces at the memory. “That sure seems to happen a lot tonight.”

Yuuri assumes he fell into the crater they’re now standing in. A _crater_! It must be where the star fell, he realises.  He wonders if the man is also looking for it.

“Um, I don’t want to bother you, but have you seen a fallen star anywhere around here?

“A star?” The man looks confused again, and then his expression shutters.

“Yes! It should be here, this looks like the point of impact.”

“You don’t say.”

Yuuri looks up, startled by the coldness of his tone. Maybe he _is_ angry at Yuuri after all.

“What do you want that star for?”

He must be looking for it too, Yuuri thinks with bitter disappointment. It has to be why he’s in there in the first place. Maybe he’ll let Yuuri borrow it, so he can show Yuuko. Maybe he’ll allow him to have a little piece of it to bring back home.

“Well – I saw it fall and I thought it would make a nice gift. For my friend. She means a lot to me and I wanted to give her something special –“

 “ _Oh,_ ” the man says, perking up. “ _Romance!_ Are you going to propose? How nice! In _that_ case—”

“What? No! It’s not like that, it’s –“ He trails off, because he’s not about to explain his relationship with Yuuko to a complete stranger. He doesn’t seem to be listening to Yuuri, anyway.  

“I’ve always found it fascinating, the way humans fall in love. It’s so silly, but beautiful too, don’t you think?”

“I—suppose?” This conversation is making him distinctly uncomfortable. “So, um, have you seen it?”

“ _He_ ’d appreciate it if you stopped calling him it.”

The man looks displeased again, though it’s more of a pout than anything else. Yuuri wonders what he’s talking about for a moment, and then it strikes him that he’s talked about _humans_ as though he, himself, is not _._ He considers the ethereal good looks, the long silver hair that’s unlike anything he’s ever seen or even heard of.

“Are you – _you’re_ the star?”

He feels ridiculous just saying it, but –

“Oh, so you _do_ have a brain after all!”

Yuuri would probably feel more insulted if the man didn’t look so pleased with him.

“I’m so sorry! I had no idea you – uh. Would look like that. Are you – do you have a name?”

“Yes, yes, of course. I’m Victor.”

Yuuri introduces himself as well, unsure how formal he’s supposed to be. He’s talking to a s _tar_.

“Oh, I know a Yuri! I think he would like you.”

Yuuri has the distinct feeling that this is a lie. They contemplate each other in silence for a moment and then Yuuri sighs, running a hand through his hair.

“Well, there goes my plan.”

“Why is that?”

“I can’t just give _you_ to Yuuko.”

“I think I would make an amazing gift, I –” He pauses, looking down at the candle Yuuri’s still clutching. “A Babylon Candle! Amazing! You sure are full of surprises, Yuuri!”

He makes an attempt at throwing his hands up but quickly lowers them, wincing.

Yuuri gives him a blank look.

“I’d been wondering how to get home, but a Babylon Candle would be _perfect_. Tell you what, I’ll make you a deal. I’ll come with you so you can impress your lady friend and in exchange you give me the candle!”

Yuuri doesn’t bother mentioning that his intentions are absolutely not what Victor thinks they are. It sounds like a very good deal to him, though he can’t help feeling a little guilty. Victor is clearly injured, probably because he _fell from the sky_ , and it would be wrong to keep him from going home.

“Or I… could just give you the candle right now?” he offers.

“No, no, no, that would be _boring_. I came all the way down here, I might as well do some sightseeing. Everything looks so different from the ground! This kind of opportunity doesn’t come very often, you know. So where are we going? Lead the way!”

With some help from Yuuri, Victor makes himself a makeshift sling by tearing the fabric of his long overcoat. He looks a little pained by the necessity of it, though the coat was already somewhat singed.

Even in less than ideal shape, Victor is a whirlwind of energy that Yuuri has trouble following as they head towards the general direction he believes Hasetsu to be in. He hopes they’ll find a village on the way, because he currently has nothing but the clothes on his back, and his last meal already feels like a distant memory.

Asking Victor questions is a good way to distract himself from his worries, at least.

“How come you fell?”

Victor turns around to face him, pulling something from underneath his tunic.

“This thing knocked me out! I don’t know what it is or where it came from, but it definitely wasn’t supposed to be in the sky!”

He points to the heavy pendant around his neck, a translucent gem set in intricate gold. It’s probably worth a fortune, Yuuri thinks distantly.

“And you just decided to wear it?”

“I don’t see why not. It’s pretty.”

Yuuri wonders if all stars are so – _so._

He doesn’t reply, and they lapse into silence.

Yuuri’s been staring at the sky for a while, frowning, when Victor finally asks, sounding amused:

“What are you looking for?”

“I’m looking for the North Star, so I can figure out where we are. I can usually find it – uh – him? her? – easily enough, I don’t know why--”

Victor raises his eyebrows and Yuuri stops short.

“Good luck with that.”

“… Are _you_ the North Star?”

“I am!”

Yuuri’s not sure why he’s so surprised that Victor isn’t just one star but _that_ star, the one Yuuri’s always used as a guide. The one he always started from when he was trying to map out constellations.

He’s definitely lost now, and Victor is no help at all. Thankfully they land on a small road quickly enough, though Yuuri has no idea where it leads.

He wonders what stars see. If Victor ever noticed him looking, all those nights he spent in the field. He rejects the thought quickly enough. So many people look at the stars, he tells himself. Why would the brightest one have paid any attention to a boy from Hasetsu?

Victor has endless questions about his life and the forest around them— most of which Yuuri can’t answer, because no, he’s never seen this kind of tree before. No, he doesn’t think Victor should eat that mushroom. Can stars get food poisoning?!

Their conversation fills the time and so Yuuri doesn’t mind that they keep going despite the exhaustion weighing him down.

The sun rises and Victor seems a little more subdued after that, squinting at the sunlight. To his credit, he doesn’t complain until mid-morning.

Yuuri’s relieved when they find a river, because it means that at least he won’t die of dehydration. He’s beyond tired, but he doesn’t want to stop there in the middle of nowhere. His attempts at catching one of the silvery fish that swim in the water are unsuccessful, though at least they entertain Victor.

“Let’s stop here,” Victor says, and though he’s still smiling Yuuri can see the strain in it.

“I hoped we’d find an inn or something, I don’t want to just sleep in woods I don’t know… and we still don’t have any food.”

The other side of the Wall is a little – lacking, so far, Yuuri thinks. He hasn’t seen anything particularly interesting, aside from Victor. The woods around them aren’t so different from the ones around Hasetsu, where he used to play with his sister when they were children. 

“I’m _tired_ ,” Victor whines. He sounds a little like the triplets when they don’t want to go to bed. If Yuuri had ever expected stars to be people, he certainly wouldn’t have pictured someone capable of making that kind of sound.

“The sun and I don’t get on, Yuuri.”

“Alright, alright. Why don’t you stay here? I’ll go on ahead for a while and see if I can find anything, and then I’ll come back to get you.”

Victor slumps down next to a tree.

“Whatever you want.”

“Will you be okay on your own?”

Victor laughs.

“I’m hardly helpless.”

Yuuri’s not sure what he means by that, but it’s not like Yuuri would be very useful if something _did_ happen, and Victor seems confident enough, so he relents.

 

It takes Yuuri _hours_ , but he does manage to find a village and to convince someone to sell him food and some supplies. He’s incredibly lucky to have been carrying some coin on him – which the locals seemed baffled by, but did accept – but what he did have is almost entirely gone. He tries not to worry too much as he finds his way back to the tree where he left Victor to sleep.

Victor isn’t there.

He thinks he’s gotten lost at first, but he remembers the place, can see the rock he almost slipped off of during his disastrous attempt at fishing.

Yuuri tries calling out to him a few times, in case he’s nearby, but he gets no answer.  

Did Victor wander away? Get sick of waiting for Yuuri? He hadn’t meant to be gone that long.

Did he think of another way to get home?

Yuuri pats at his pockets, and sure enough the candle is still there.

Maybe Victor’s just gone for a walk and will be back, he tries to convince himself.

He’s too exhausted to go looking for him, and more than a little disappointed, so he lies down beside the tree and eventually drifts off into an uneasy sleep.

Only a few hours can have passed, but it’s dark again when he’s disturbed by rather aggressive whispers.

_Hey!_

_Hey, moron!_

_HEY!_

Yuuri startles awake and sits up, but there’s no one around. He looks up.

“Are – you talking to me?”

_No, I’m talking to the tree. Idiot. Get up, Victor’s in trouble._

Great, now he’s getting insulted by _another_ star, and the one that wandered off needs help.

“What? How? Where?” 

_A Witch. A Witch wants to eat him, obviously! She lured his dumb ass to an inn._

“ _Eat him_?!”

_His heart, stupid. For eternal life. Anyway, stop panicking and listen to me._

Yuuri needs some clarifications on the whole eating thing, and he’s not sure what he’s supposed to do about _witches_ , but that’ll have to wait.

“Where is he?”

_Get on the carriage!_

“What carriage?”

_By the road! Run!_

Yuuri does, and almost gets squashed.

The horses rear back as the driver reigns them in.  A man and a woman look down at him, baffled.

“Who the hell are you?! Are you trying to rob us?!” the man asks, a hand on the sword at his side.

Yuuri wishes the star had mentioned what he was supposed to do once he did find the carriage.

“Are you in trouble?” The woman pushes her companion back down with a hand, sounding more concerned than hostile.

“No, I’m – sorry, I just have to – I need to get to my friend, it’s important, please!”

“No way.”

“Mickey! Don’t be like that, look at the poor man.”

“I am looking! He looks crazy!”

“Come on up, we’ll drop you where you need to go, we’re not in any hurry.”

“We can’t just take in every madman we run into!”

She ignores him. Yuuri would usually be reluctant to impose on strangers, but this is too important. The woman – Sara, apparently – extends a hand to him. He takes it, pulling himself up to sit beside her, as far from the man – her brother, presumably, they look very similar – as he can.

“So, where are you going?” she asks, smiling.

“I’m… not sure. An inn. Somewhere along this road, there’s going to be an inn.”

“Oh good! We were looking for somewhere to spend the night.”

“You! I’m watching you! If you try anything with my sister I’m throwing you out.”

Sara rolls her eyes, and introduces the two of them as the carriage picks up speed again.

They’re on the way to the Grand Tournament, she explains. Has Yuuri heard of it? They’re both competing in it, and she thinks they have a pretty good chance this year. She proudly shows him her sword. It looks like Minako’s, Yuuri thinks idly, trying to pay attention to the conversation out of courtesy despite the fear twisting his gut.

 

Sara is the first to spot it.

“Look, the inn! Do you think that’s where your friend is? You said they were in trouble, can we help?”

“Don’t just volunteer me like that!” Michele complains, but he does look interested.

“Um – do you know anything about witches?”

“Witches?” They chorus, and if Yuuri hadn’t been told they’re twins, he would’ve guessed from that alone.

“Yes, he – has something that she wants.”

“Then he should probably give it to them and hope they’ll leave him alone if he does.”

“Ah – it’s kind of _important_ –“

His _heart_ , the other star had said. Yuuri really hopes he didn’t mean that literally.

There’s the distinct sound of an explosion from somewhere within the inn. Yuuri jumps off the carriage and hits the ground running, ignoring the protests that erupt behind him.

When Yuuri crashes through the doors, Victor is slowly backing away from a woman holding a knife, arms raised placatingly and talking a mile a minute.

About half the room around them is being swallowed up by unnatural green flames.

Yuuri feels fairly safe in assuming that he’s found the witch.

“Hey! Leave him alone!” 

Yuuri’s doesn’t know what possessed him to attract the woman’s attention, but he regrets it almost immediately. He doesn’t spend much time dwelling on it, though, since he finds himself having to dodge a fireball.

He should’ve thought this through a little more carefully. What’s a boy from Hasetsu supposed to do against _magic_?

Victor is talking again, trying to get back the witch’s attention. He looks more frantic than before, but Yuuri can’t tell what he’s saying over the roar of the flames. She ignores him, apparently intent on eliminating Yuuri before going back to her more important task.

Victor, frustrated and probably out of ideas, throws a mug at her head. It’s unexpected enough to stun her, and Victor runs past her to grab Yuuri by the sleeve and drag him back towards the exit.

The door bursts into flames and they jump back, Victor whirling around to throw himself between Yuuri and the witch as she advances on them.

“What are you _doing_?” Yuuri hisses at him.

“What are _you_ doing?! Why are you here?!” Victor replies, and he sounds angry.

“Uh. Rescuing you.”

“Yes, I can see how well that’s going.”

“We’re about to die, could you please cut the sarcasm?”

Victor is gearing up for a response, but the witch seems to have gotten tired of their chatter and is advancing on them.

 _Escape_ , Yuuri thinks. He has to grab Victor and get _far_ , _far_ away.

He could weep with relief when his fingers close around the Babylon Candle in his pocket.

“Grab my hand and think of home!” he shouts to Victor, and doesn’t immediately realise that his choice of words might have been a little unfortunate.

 

They end up somewhere that is most definitely not Hasetsu.

“Oh,” Victor says, eyebrows raised.

Lightning crackles around them and Yuuri yelps, throwing himself to the side to avoid being struck.

“Oh?! Is that all you have to say?!”

“Hm. It seems you thought of your home and I thought of mine, and here we are. Halfway between the two.”

“Now what?! The candle’s done for and we can’t just—climb down.”

“At least if we fall I’ll probably be fine.”

“Thanks, Victor. That’s very helpful.”

“I could _try_ to shield you. I’m not sure how effective it would be, humans are very fragile.”

Yuuri gives up on the whole conversation and hides his face in his hands. If he gets struck by lightning it’ll only be shortening his inevitable suffering, anyway.

It’s why he doesn’t see the net coming.

 

They’re hauled up aboard a ship. Of course, Yuuri thinks. Of course, they get picked up by _sky pirates_. That’s the logical conclusion to the night he’s been having.

“Well, well, well, what do we have here?”

Yuuri flinches back, but keeps himself between Victor and the pirates. It’s his fault they’re in this situation. He should’ve been more specific.  

The captain winks at his crew, and his manic smile is a little terrifying.

“Sky Marshals, I presume? We don’t like your kind around here.”

“What? No – uh, we – we’re kind of lost –“

They get thrown in the brig unceremoniously before Yuuri can attempt to explain.

Victor and Yuuri exchange a look. They’re both drenched, and bruised, and exhausted. Victor sits down, pulling Yuuri along with him and huddling close for warmth, and maybe comfort. Yuuri certainly feels a little comforted, though it doesn’t mean much given how bleak he’s feeling.

“I should’ve just stayed home,” Yuuri sighs.

“What, and missed all of this excitement?”

Yuuri ignores him.

“I suppose I should thank you for the rescue attempt, even if it was very stupid of you. I didn’t actually mean to leave you back in the forest, you know? I got bored so I went for a walk and then I met that woman! She said she was lost, and she looked miserable, so I thought I could help her! I meant to come back, but, well. She objected.”

“I can’t believe I didn’t even tell my parents I was leaving.”

“You’ll get the chance to explain, I’m sure.”

“I don’t know, what are the odds that these people are just going to let us go?”

Victor shrugs.

“If I tell them what I am they might agree to let you go,” he muses. Yuuri pulls away to stare at him with wide eyes.

“What? You can’t do that! Why would you do that?!”

“Well, the options seem to be ‘we both get murdered’ or ‘I get murdered somewhat more gruesomely and you maybe live’ so the choice seems obvious to me.”

“Still –“

“ _Or_ maybe this is just a big misunderstanding and everything will turn out fine!”

In a startling turn of events, the last option turns out to be true.

 

Captain Giacometti is – nice, if a little eccentric. He leaves them to worry themselves sick for a few hours, and then comes down to interrogate them himself.

Victor, having learned from his mistakes, spins an intricate tale. It’s convincing enough that Yuuri half-believes it even though he _knows_ it’s not true, and even if it’s frankly a little overdramatic.

He’s not sure why Victor felt the need to specify that they’re childhood friends and that Yuuri is helping him escape an arranged marriage. He probably thought it sounded romantic. The Captain seems somewhat dubious, but once he’s convinced that they aren’t Sky Marshals – whatever _those_ are – he immediately turns friendlier.

The pirate thing is mostly for the aesthetic, he says. He actually trades in bottled lightning, which is not _strictly_ legal – hence his conflict with the local law enforcement. Since Victor and Yuuri are definitely not that, they find themselves guests aboard the _Intoxicated._

“You’re a tradesman,” Victor says, halfway through a rather amazing dinner. “You must know where we might acquire some rare items.”

“What kind of items?”

“A Babylon Candle,” Victor says, running a hand through his hair. “We’ve used ours up and I need to go… somewhere hard to reach by other means.”

The Captain looks at Yuuri, surprised that Victor doesn’t seem to be including him in that statement.

“Hmm,” he says. “I don’t know anyone who trades in them, and they’re pricey, but suppose you could always enter the Grand Tournament. It’s where I’m headed. The best fencers in the realm compete in it. There is a Babylon Candle among the rewards for the winner this year, I hear.”

Victor looks down at his arm, which he’s put back in a sling, and frowns.

“I don’t think I would do very well in a duel when I’m like this.”

“I’ll do it,” Yuuri says, and might be the most surprised to the three of them by his outburst.

“You can fence?” Victor asks, perking up.

Yuuri immediately has second thoughts.

“Well – kind of? I’m not very good at it.”

He has good technique, he knows – Minako made sure of that – but the actual fighting has always left him unsettled and nervousness leaves him open to beginner’s mistakes.

“Leave it to me!” Captain Giacometti says. “I’ll make a champion out of you, Katsuki! Though don’t aim too high, I _am_ a contestant as well. I suppose that when I win I _could_ give you the Candle, but it is a very valuable item and I am a businessman.” He winks at Yuuri. “So you’d better place second, and then we can talk about a trade. Deal?”

Yuuri has no doubt that he’s going to get ripped off – if he does manage to win anything – but he has very little use for riches, anyway.

“Yes. If you can get me the Candle, I’ll give you whatever you want in return.”

“Promises, promises.”

Yuuri thinks he sees a flicker of annoyance across Victor’s expression, but it’s gone as soon as it appeared. It must be frustrating for him, being unable to fight for himself.

 

Yuuri only protests a little when he realises that the Captain’s idea of having Yuuri shape up for the tournament entails a haircut – though his hair is distinctly longer afterwards, something he’s decided not to question too hard – and a change in wardrobe.

Victor gets clothes as well and he looks _good_ in his new coat, hair tied back by a ribbon. Yuuri swallows a little nervously, and asks the first question that crosses his mind to keep himself from staring.

“Say, Captain, when _is_ the tournament?”

“In four days!”

“What?! But that’s – I’ll never have time to –“

“Then we should get started right away, no?”

The whole crew surrounds them when the Captain brings Yuuri up to the deck and offers him a sword.

Yuuri is rusty, nervous, and the unfamiliar weapon is ill-fitting.

He does very poorly.

The crew laughs at him raucously, though the jibes are mostly good-natured.

The next few attempts are barely more successful. The Captain is _very_ good, always has him on the defensive, backing away until he loses his footing. He looks amused, and more than a little smug.

Yuuri clenches his teeth, pushes through the discomfort. He wants to give up, to say this was all a terrible idea anyway, that he can’t do it.

Except Yuuri doesn’t _want_ to lose, to prove the jeers right.

He asks for a break and Victor joins him, looking somewhat unimpressed.

“So, are you going to beat him or not? You said you could fence,” he says, a little accusatory, as he hands Yuuri a glass of water.

“I _know_ , it’s just – been a while, that’s all.”

Yuuri is sick of losing. Yuuri promised to get Victor back home.

He will.  

“Watch and see.”

The first time he disarms the Captain, Victor’s cheers are so loud they can be heard over the crew’s groans of disappointment.

 

“If you manage to beat me, I’ll give you the pick of any of the swords in the armoury,” Chris had promised him at the start. Yuuri hadn’t thought much of it at the time, but that was before he realised that Chris is a _collector_.  

“Oh,” Victor breathes and Yuuri runs his hand over polished handles and sheathed blades. “I want one too!”

“Sure, you can have one – for a kiss.”

Victor considers the offer thoughtfully for a moment.

“Alright!”

“ _Victor!_ ” Yuuri chokes out, scandalised, but Victor darts forward to press a loud kiss to Chris’s cheek.

“Now, now,” Chris chides, laughing. “That’s worth a dagger at most.”

Victor shrugs.

“It’s my best offer. A dagger will do nicely, though!”

They’re both ridiculous, and Yuuri has decided to ignore them. The sword he picks is plain, relatively speaking – he doesn’t know how to even go about picking up some of them – but the balance of it feels instantly right.

Chris hums in approval, and then lets Yuuri know that he will have his revenge some time after lunch.

 

Victor watches Yuuri train from the sidelines with some wistfulness, perched on the side of the ship even though it’s absurdly dangerous. He keeps calling out advice, and it would be irritating if it wasn’t _good_ advice.

“I’m going to regret putting you up to this, I think.” Chris says to Yuuri, from his spot on the floor. “Where did you train?”

“Oh, um. At home, in my village. A friend’s been teaching me since I was very small but I never – it was just for fun, for something to do.”

“I find that hard to believe. Your footwork is exquisite.”

“Minako always did say I was good at that.”

His new mentor looks at him like he’s grown a second head, suddenly.

“Minako? Okukawa Minako?”

Yuuri startles.

“Yes?”

“She’s won the tournament five times! She’s a legend!”

“She’s – um, never mentioned that.”

Chris grumbles something under his breath that has Victor shooting a glare at him, and tells Yuuri they’re done for the day.

 

Victor and Yuuri are glad to work to earn their keep on the ship – especially considering all the clothing and supplies Chris’s given them – so they help with the lightning-catching. Victor is particularly good at it, because he is _reckless_ with it, gets too close and is bolder than the most experienced of Chris’s men. Yuuri doesn’t want to think about the stunts he’d pull if he weren’t still hindered by his injury.

The Chris’s helped him braid his hair to keep it out of the way and he looks better in his heavy raincoat than anyone has any right to be, flushed with laughter and adrenaline.

Yuuri has to look away so he won’t get distracted from his task. It would be a ridiculous way to go, getting fried because he was too busy staring at the way raindrops cling to Victor’s eyelashes to pay attention to what he was doing.

Victor might be fine if he gets struck – it’s not a theory they’ve dared put to the test – but Yuuri certainly won’t be.

 

At night, they dance. Victor’s arm is out of its sling, and Chris twirls him a few times before handing him off to Yuuri. Victor is always bright when he’s happy, but there’s something different now. Yuuri can’t quite pinpoint it.

It’s not until they’re pressed together, swaying to the slow music coming from Chris’ gramophone, that he notices that it’s not just Victor’s expression that is radiant. _He_ is, his skin and hair emitting a soft glow. Yuuri wonders if this is new, or if he just – hasn’t noticed it before, too caught up in other things.

“Um, Victor?”

“Yes?”

“You’re – shining a little. Is that—is that normal?”

“Oh! Well, yes. I’ve been doing better, it makes sense that it would be back. But it is rather conspicuous.”

He closes his eyes, frowning, and the glow diminishes a little, though it doesn’t fade entirely.

“What are you doing?”

“Thinking of unpleasant things.”

“It doesn’t seem to be working.”

“Hm. I _am_ dancing with you, it’s a little hard to focus.”

Yuuri realises they’re still moving and stills.

“We should stop, before someone notices.”

Victor heaves a dramatic sigh.

“I don’t _want_ to.”

Yuuri thinks that Victor must like dancing very much, to risk discovery for it, when he’s been so guarded about his identity since the run-in with the witch. Yuuri knows that he likes Chris, Yuuri does too, but immortality is one hell of a temptation.   

So Yuuri moves away, and the light fades almost immediately.

 

(What most people don’t know is that stars are terrible gossips.

Victor’s constellation is no exception.

_Look, look! I think Victor’s feeling better._

_Ugh, I can’t believe he’s shining over that mortal. What a disgrace._

_Aw, don’t ruin the mood! It’s been centuries since someone had a good love story around here, right Georgi?_

_Don’t remind me, Mila. I still haven’t recovered._

_Sorry, sorry. I am glad for Victor though._

_Why? Either they’ll get their stupid asses killed or the human will die anyway and then Victor will whine about it for the next thousand year._

_You have no sense of romance, Yura.)_

 

They reach the port the night before the tournament starts. It’s bustling with activity, the kind of which Yuuri has never seen before. He’s almost excited by the prospect of it all, and Victor is already leaning over the side of the ship, eyes glittering with interest. 

Yuuri sometimes forgets that in a way they’re the same, both newcomers to this world. Victor takes in everything with enthusiasm, always pointing out what’s attracted his attention to Yuuri and sharing his every thought.

Yuuri’s been so happy, these past few days. He’s glad beyond reason to have found Victor, to get to have some of his time.

He’s going to say something – he doesn’t quite know what, exactly, but he feels like he’s going to burst if he doesn’t try to convey his feelings _somehow—_ when the Chris comes up behind them, throwing his arms around both their shoulders.

Yuuri’s just glad he didn’t grab them somewhere else.

“Here we are, my friends! I’ve got things to see and people to do, so I’ll see you two lovebirds in the morning!”

He starts to make his way down to the shore while Yuuri and Victor make sure they’ve packed everything – they’ve accumulated a startling amount of belongings, in just four days – but then he turns back and calls out:  

“Oh, and Victor? I know what you are.”

Yuuri flinches. Victor doesn’t. 

“And? What do you intend to do about it?” he asks.

“Me? Nothing at all. But you’d better keep a low profile at the tournament. Even if it’s hard, with a face like yours. Be careful, you’re far too pretty to be gruesomely murdered!”

Victor laughs, and thanks him. Yuuri doesn’t find this amusing in the slightest. Chris winks at him.

“Relax, Katsuki. I’m a pirate, not a monster.”

Yuuri’s not really worried about _him_ , not when he’s helped them out so much even though he must’ve known for a while now, but the colourful people going about their business all around them suddenly seem much less interesting and much more terrifying.  

Victor doesn’t seem overly bothered, though he does find a cloak to drape over his shoulders, pulling the hood up to hide his silver hair.

“It’s getting chilly, anyway,” he says, smiling. Yuuri has a feeling that the disguise is mostly for his sake.

“Come on, let’s go see the merchants!”

He takes Yuuri’s hand and leads him down and into the crowd, stride confident as ever.

Yuuri doesn’t know what he’d do if anything happened to him. 

 

They manage to get Yuuri registered for the tournament with some strategic convincing from Victor, who, it seems, only has to bat his ridiculous eyelashes a few times, tuck a strand of hair behind his ear, and offer a few obnoxious compliments in a breathy voice to get whatever he wants from complete strangers.

It makes Yuuri somewhat uncomfortable, because this is not what ‘keeping a low profile’ _means_ – and maybe for other reasons Yuuri is not going to look into.

At least he’s not glowing, Yuuri supposes.

Where did he learn to flirt, anyway? He’s a _star_.

Yuuri’s surprised to hear someone call out his name, and even more so when he suddenly finds himself pulled into a hug.

“Yuuri, you’re okay! I’m so glad to see you! We were really worried!”

It’s the Crispino twins, though Sara seems distinctly happier to see him than Michele is. He’d completely forgotten that the Tournament was where they were headed, too.

“We tried looking for you, but there was fire everywhere, and that awful woman – well, there wasn’t much we could do…”

It hadn’t even occurred to Yuuri that they might get involved. He’d only just met them, after all. He hopes they didn’t get into trouble because of him. 

“You’re going to compete now?” Mickey asks, looking disgruntled. “I thought you didn’t even know what the Tournament _was_.”

“I didn’t! But I heard about the prizes and there’s something I need –“

“ _Yuuuuri_ , did you make friends?” Victor chooses that moment to come back from wherever he’d wandered off to, casually draping himself over Yuuri’s shoulders as if though it’s a perfectly acceptable thing to do in public.

Sara raises an eyebrow, while Michele seems to recoil a little from the sheer strength of Victor’s cheerfulness.

“Oh, is that him? The friend you were looking for?”

“Yes,” Yuuri sighs. “That’s Victor.”

“Well, you two seem to have found your way out of that situation.”

“Yuuri’s very resourceful,” Victor chimes in.

“Are you competing as well?”

“No, no. I wish I could, but I had a – bad fall, recently. I’m still recovering.”

Yuuri throws him a dirty look.

They chat a while more, and then the twins take off. Yuuri is left to his worries, despite Victor’s best attempts at distracting him.

He doesn’t sleep much, that night, and it’s not because of the soft light Victor’s emitting from the other side of the room.  It was fine, fighting against Chris on the ship, and he does know that Minako taught him well. He knows he can hold his own. But sparring with someone he knows is very different from going up against the best duellists in the kingdom in front of a massive crowd.

 

“You look awful,” Victor tells him in the morning.

“Just what I needed to hear.”

Victor pats his forearm.

“I don’t know what you’re so worried about, Yuuri. Chris said he was the champion last year, right? And you’ve beaten Chris plenty of times. This should be easy!”

By “plenty of times” Victor means maybe three times out of the dozens of matches they’ve had.

“It’s not the _same_.”

“Of course it is.”

Victor pulls him into a hug – for luck, he says, and who knows, maybe it’s true – as he waits for his turn to enter the arena.

“Hood, Victor!” Yuuri hisses between his teeth, because Victor’s started glowing again.

“Hm? Oh, right.”

Yuuri takes a deep breath, steps away from him, and then waits for his name to be announced.

“Katsuki Yuuri, fighting on behalf of Victor Nikiforov!”

Yuuri hears a whistle from somewhere in the crowd. Chris, presumably.  

If Yuuri doesn’t die of embarrassment or from being stabbed, he’s going to strangle Victor. Because it’s true, and that’s not the issue, the issue is that Victor didn’t _tell_ him he’d signed him up as his champion.

It’s only later, once he’s inflicted a somewhat humiliating defeat on a young knight who looks too awe-struck to be properly upset by his loss, that he realises that he’s been so busy being irritated at Victor that he forgot to worry.

Victor meets him at the edge of the arena with some water and a handkerchief, grinning widely.

“My champion,” he says, bringing Yuuri’s sword hand to his lips.

Yuuri raises his eyebrows

“I hope you’re not expecting me to do that.”

Victor’s smile widens.

“Only if you want to.”

The next two fights are more arduous, because the opponents are more skilled and Yuuri’s anxiety has returned with a vengeance now that he’s over Victor’s little distraction.

Somehow he makes it through the day undefeated, if wearier and more bruised than he ever remembers being.

 

Chris’s lost to a stoic young man in the third round, but he’s taking it rather well, with some help from attractive young men and copious amounts of alcohol. Whatever story he’s telling, it’s making Victor raise his eyebrows in disbelief. Yuuri uses the fact that Victor’s attention is elsewhere to slip away from their table when the need to find some space to breathe makes itself hard to ignore.

Victor’s been clingier than usual since the start of the tournament, and he’s currently doing his best to join the drunken bandwagon even if he seems mostly immune to the effects of alcohol. Despite the impressive amounts of dodgy moonshine he’s swallowed down, he’s very much the same, if a little more handsy. Though that might also just be the result of whatever strange mood’s come over him since the morning.

Yuuri wishes he could get drunk, but his winning streak is miraculous as it is, and he doesn’t want to risk it for something like this. 

He escapes out onto the balcony for some fresh air. Victor will be fine on his own for a few minutes, he thinks.

He’s not the only one to be seeking refuge from the celebrations, though the other man doesn’t seem to be hiding so much as he is enjoying the night.

It’s someone Yuuri had seen earlier in the day, one of the competitors Chris introduced to him who’s also been eliminated. They talk, despite Yuuri’s initial reluctance, and Yuuri warms up to him fast, to his easy smiles and genuine enthusiasm in wishing Yuuri luck with the rest of the competition.

“Hey, do you think you could teach me that move you used against Leo?” the man – who’s introduced himself as Phichit – asks. I’ll give you something for luck in return!”

Yuuri would’ve done it even without the incentive – his opponent in the second round was relatively easy to defeat, though his unique style certainly threw Yuuri in for a loop a few times – but he’s intrigued by the offer.  He entertains the possibility that Phichit might be trying to sabotage him for a moment, but it seems silly. Yuuri’s not one to trust easily, but his instincts about people are rarely wrong.

“Like a charm?”

Phichit produces a small glass flower from one of the numerous pouches he’s carrying, and deposits it in Yuuri’s outstretched hand.

It’s beautiful, if a little unassuming. His first thought is that Victor would like it.

“Thanks, Phichit. I’ll take good care of it! Um, when did you want me to –“

Phichit waves him off.

“There’ll be plenty of time for that later, I’m sure. I just wanted you to have the flower now. I have a feeling it’ll be useful to you sooner than later.”

Yuuri thinks that sounds vaguely ominous, but he probably just means the tournament.

Victor is still drinking when Yuuri goes back to him, and he latches onto Yuuri’s arm as soon as he comes within reach. Yuuri wonders where he got all that money to spend on too much cheap ale.

He regrets asking, when Victor tells him it’s from the wagers he’s made. Nobody’s been betting on Yuuri, a complete unknown who doesn’t look like much. Nobody except Victor, that is, which means he’s been collecting a fair amount. It would be flattering, except Yuuri’s sure that Victor has been betting far more than he could actually pay if Yuuri lost.

Another reason to be nervous was all Yuuri needed.

 

Yuuri drags him back to the ship, citing an early wake up call in the morning, while Chris and his hordes leer and whistle after them.

It probably does look like that, Yuuri thinks, an awful blush taking over his features. What with Victor hanging all over him.

It’s not, though.

“What’s not?”

“Oh, uh, nothing.”

“Are you still worried about tomorrow?”

“Aren’t you?”

“Not really, no. I know you can win.”

“What if I don’t?”

“There’s no need to think about that before you’ve been defeated, you know. What’s the use?”

It’s absurd, how scared Yuuri is of failing Victor. He knows that Victor is being lighthearted about the whole thing, that there are certainly other ways for him to find a way home if this one doesn’t work out – Victor doesn’t even seem to mind being stranded that much, though how long that’ll last, Yuuri doesn’t know – and yet Yuuri can’t help the worry twisting his guts.

 

He’s a nervous wreck the next morning. Victor takes one look at him and sighs, apparently at a loss. He makes sure Yuuri eats and drinks properly, fusses with his armour, gives his sword a cursory check – and the routine of it, though recent, is somewhat soothing to Yuuri.

Despite his state of mind, his body seems able to go through the motions well enough. It’s not his most graceful fighting, and his atrocious form would probably give Minako hives, but Yuuri remains undefeated.

The luck of the draw has him facing relatively weak opponents and he lets Victor sort out the assignments.

He just goes down into the arena when he’s called, draws his sword, and hopes for the best. It’s why he can hardly believe it, when Victor tells him to get ready for the final match.

“What do you mean, the final match?”

Victor blinks at him, puzzled.

“It’s the last one, Yuuri. Everyone’s been eliminated except you and Leroy.”

“Oh. Are you – are you sure?”

Victor wraps an arm around his shoulder, smile fond.

“Absolutely certain. Come on, you have to rest, let’s take a nap before it starts.”

By that Victor means that he intends to sprawl on top of Yuuri to keep him from pacing nervously for a few hours. It is somewhat effective, Yuuri has to admit, though there is absolutely no way he can sleep with Victor so close to him.

 

According to Victor, Yuuri’s final opponent is the favourite. He had placed second the previous year and is generally considered to be the most likely to win now that Chris is out of the running. He’s eliminated the man who beat Chris – Otabek, Yuuri thinks, distantly glad not to have had to face such a formidable opponent – and has managed to gain the favour of the crowd in doing so. He’s flashy, loud, and probably overconfident, but not to be underestimated. 

He looks younger than Yuuri had expected, from up close.

From the start he leaves openings that Yuuri doesn’t take, certain that it’s some kind of feint. He trips over his own feet, is sloppy, and Yuuri doesn’t understand it at all.

Yuuri thinks of the glass flower, tucked away inside his pocket. He wonders if it’s the cause of the other man’s troubles at first, though it hadn’t seemed to affect his previous opponents.

Maybe the other man is sick, or has tired himself out in the other rounds. Yuuri’s stamina is one of his greatest advantages, and even he’s starting to find his limbs clumsy with exhaustion.  

It takes a while for Yuuri to recognise the expression the man is wearing, though it should, in retrospect, have been obvious. Yuuri has seen something similar in his own reflection often enough. Fear of failure is, it seems, the greatest opponent to them both.

Leroy seems to regain control of himself as the fight drags on, and starts to push back. Yuuri is _tired_ , and only somewhat more steady on his feet.

But he thinks of Victor, cheering from the sidelines, entirely wrapped in a cloak because he’s been shining constantly with the thrill of the competition.

Leroy can have next year. This one is Yuuri’s.

Leroy’s sword goes flying.

The crowd explodes into applause but Yuuri ignores them, turning to where he knows Victor is standing.

Victor spreads his arms and Yuuri uses the last of his strength to run to him. It seems he’s too slow for Victor’s tastes, because he throws himself at him and Yuuri falls over, laughing. Victor’s hands go up to cradle his head so it doesn’t hit the ground, and then Victor’s lips are on his.

Yuuri’s too taken by the moment to notice much of anything for a while, but eventually the stunned silence registers, and then he notices that Victor is not just glowing with happiness _metaphorically_ and that his hood has fallen off.

All eyes are on them, and not because of Victor’s stunning public display of affection – which Yuuri will definitely spend longer being both awed and mortified over when they’re less likely to be murdered.

“Oh no,” Yuuri says, weakly.

 

They run before anyone can get any ideas.

“The ship!” Yuuri says, a few steps behind because he’s _exhausted_. Victor pulls him by the hand, looking around frantically for a hiding place.

“No! We’ve been seen with Chris too often, we’d be too easy to find there!”

“Maybe no one will be looking for us, maybe it’ll take a while before someone realises what you are –“

“I’m not willing to bet on that!”

They run into an alley only to find someone waiting for them there. Victor pulls Yuuri behind him and draws his dagger, jaw set.

“Wait, Victor! Wait, I know him!” Yuuri says. “He’s a friend of the Chris’s, we’ve spoken before.”

“I want to help!” Phichit says, hands raised in surrender. “Come with me, I’ll hide you.”

Victor and Yuuri exchange a glance, and Yuuri can tell that Victor would rather keep running, but Yuuri’s already out of breath and they hear shouts and footsteps coming from behind them.

Yuuri grasps Victor’s hand tighter.

“Okay, okay, just – _hurry_!”

Phichit leads them to the wagon that seems to double as his shop and living space– he _had_ told Yuuri that he was a travelling magician – and ushers them inside.

“Where should I drop you off?”

“At the Wall,” Yuuri says, because surely no one will come looking for them in Hasetsu. After all, nobody has crossed the barrier save for Minako – and Yuuri, now – in hundreds of years. 

Someone must’ve seen them, because there are footsteps approaching, calling for them to come out.

Phichit’s eyes grow wide, and he casts a spell on both Victor and Yuuri.

Victor seems unaffected, but there is a warm feeling creeping up Yuuri’s body, and then the world – shifts, the ground suddenly much closer than it’s supposed to be. He tries to voice his concerns with this sudden change, and finds that he can only—squeak?

“What did you do?!” Victor shouts, as unnerved as Yuuri’s ever seen him.

“Shh, they’ll hear you – I guess transformation spells don’t work on you, huh? Over here, over here.”

Victor gets shoved behind a curtain somewhat unceremoniously, but he does go quiet. Yuuri prays he won’t give himself away by glowing, though it seems his worry and shocked anger has completely dulled him for the moment.

There are the sounds of an argument outside, and two men shove their way in. Yuuri hides in a corner, and hopes they don’t find Victor. His worry turns out to be unnecessary, because they leave almost immediately, and eventually Phichit pops back in to assure them that they’re fine for the moment, even if they should stay hidden for as long as possible.

Victor crawls of his hiding place to glare at the last spot Phichit occupied, and then tries to coax Yuuri out of his.

Victor picks him up, holding him in his cupped hands with almost excessive care, looking bewildered and almost scared.

“Yuuri? Can you understand me?”

Yuuri would like to nod, or something, but he’s still getting the hang of this body.

Victor sighs.

“I guess not, huh? You look cute like this. Not that you don’t always look cute. Hm, I don’t know if that’s the right word. Handsome, maybe, though that is a little mundane, too. Stunning?”

Yuuri is very glad he can’t blush in this form.

He settles for curling into a ball and Victor coos at him.

“Oh, are you tired? It’s been a long day for you, hasn’t it, my Yuuri? It really is too bad we had to run before you could collect your prize.”

He pets Yuuri lightly, still so careful that it would be a little ridiculous if it weren’t so endearing. Yuuri’s never seen Victor be that cautious with anything before – not even the lightning bolts.

“So much for that Babylon Candle. And all those pretty things you could’ve brought back home! I’m sure everyone would have been very proud. I’m sure they’re very proud anyway, who wouldn’t be? There’s always next year, I suppose. But someone might recognise us, and then where would we be? I may have to work on my impulse control, it’s just that I couldn’t help myself, you were so beautiful!”

Yuuri wants to complain, but it just comes out as another squeak.

“Shh, I know. I’m not hurting you, am I? Maybe you’re hungry.”

He searches his pockets and comes up with a slightly squashed piece of bread.

Yuuri _is_ hungry, so he nibbles at it.

“To be honest, I’m a little glad. Not that we’re being chased and that people want to murder me, obviously, but if I can’t go home, then I think that I would like to stay with you. No, I think that maybe even if I could go, I wouldn’t. It would be lonely, to be somewhere you’re not. Ah, and I used to think humans were so silly, but this is what love feels like, isn’t it?”

He trails off, looking at Yuuri with far more affection than someone talking to a rodent should.   

Yuuri’s torn between desperately wanting Victor to shut up and desperately wanting him to keep going. It’s become an alarmingly familiar feeling in the past few days.

He hasn’t even known Victor a whole week, he thinks, and yet – and yet.

It’s hard to think, like this. He falls into a doze, his hamster body warm and fed and content to be in Victor’s hands.

“You should put him down,” He thinks he hears Phichit saying a little later, voice amused. “He’ll be fine, I promise.”

Victor’s reply is sharp and unhappy.  

“Well, there may be some side-effects, but he’ll just need to sleep it off for a bit.” 

There’s the warm feeling again, and then Yuuri feels very dizzy.

 

Yuuri’s eyes flutter open reluctantly and he groans. He feels like he spent the night drinking with Minako, but he doesn’t recognise the room he’s in at all.

The day before comes back to him in pieces: winning the tournament, Victor’s kiss, running for their lives, Phichit, and –

He almost wishes he didn’t remember anything about it after all.  

As he takes in his surroundings, there’s the sound of water sloshing nearby and Yuuri drags himself upright, rubbing at his temples.

Victor walks into the room, drying his head with a towel, and he beams when he sees that Yuuri is awake. He abandons his towel to the ground and Yuuri freezes when he notices the change.

“Oh, good! You’re up!’

“You cut your hair?!”

Yuuri sounds devastated even to his own ears. Victor, surprised, blinks at him for a few moments as Yuuri stands to examine the damage from up close.

“Ah, yes. It was too conspicuous and I needed something to pay for a room with, since you were so out of it.”

Yuuri’s pretty sure that Victor would be conspicuous whatever he did, hair or not.  

“But— couldn’t we just have stayed with Phichit until I woke up?”

“After he turned you into a hamster? Absolutely not!”

Yuuri laughs.

“That was – strange, I’ll admit, but I’ve had worse!”

“Well, _I_ didn’t like it.”

“I know.”

 Yuuri looks down, flushing a little, but he can’t help the smile tugging at his lips.

“You – know?” Victor sounds surprised, and then it dawns on him. “You heard what I was saying? Why didn’t you _do_ anything?”

“I was still, uh, trying to get the hang of being a hamster…”

Victor rarely looks embarrassed, but he does now, still damp and absentmindedly reaching for hair that isn’t there anymore.

Yuuri kisses him.

It’s quick, and he hurries away to take a bath before Victor has the time to do anything but take a sharp breath.

“ _Yuuri!_ That’s unfair!” Victor shouts after him.

 

He expects retaliation as soon as he comes back but Victor seems subdued, thoughtful.   

“Don’t you ever think about it?” Victor asks, tone too casual, as Yuuri finishes putting his clothes back on, sighing at how grimy they feel. He misses the spares they’ve had to abandon already.

“Think about what?”

“Immortality.”

Yuuri stops short.

“In – in general, you mean? Or in the ‘did I ever think of murdering you’ way?!”

“I could hardly blame you if you had. It’s a tempting offer.”

“ _No_ , Victor. I haven’t. What brought this on?”

“I don’t think I would mind so much, if it was you.”

Yuuri is angry suddenly, finds himself nose to nose with Victor.

“Don’t! Don’t _say_ things like that, do you really think I could –“

“Maybe not, but –“

Yuuri kisses him again, because he’s _angry_ and really doesn’t want to hear the end of that sentence. His brain catches up to the rest of his body a few moments later, and he realises that possibly that wasn’t the best way to handle things, but by then Victor’s already dragged him closer, and Yuuri forgets what it was he was upset about.

Victor is grinning at him when he pulls away, and Yuuri thinks that Victor might just have been riling him up on purpose.

Suddenly Victor’s light vanishes, and Yuuri thinks it’s deliberate, at first, that he’s found a way to tone it down a little, which sure would be useful, but then he notices Victor’s expression.

He reaches cautiously to lift Victor’s bangs away from his eyes, to see them better, as though it would help him figure out what’s wrong, but Victor pushes him away.

Yuuri freezes in shock, because that’s not – something Victor usually _does_. Why is he so upset, when only moments earlier he was shining so bright Yuuri had to shield his eyes to see anything?

“Victor? What is it?”

“What about your Yuuko?”

Yuuri blinks in confusion. Of all things for Victor to be upset about…

“What about her? It’s not her birthday just yet, we’ll make it in time.”

“You love her.”

“…Yes?”

Victor’s face crumples, and Yuuri is more lost than ever. Then he thinks back to their first conversation, and the assumption that was apparently never corrected. He laughs, a little, because he’s startled, because the situation is so _absurd_. Victor makes a sound that is closer to angry hissing than anything else, tears welling up in his eyes.

Yuuri immediately raises his hands in surrender.

“ _Victor_. She’s my friend. She’s _married_. It’s true I’ve always admired her, but I would never – I mean – _you’re_ – I don’t think of her like that – like – like how I think of you.”

“Then why didn’t you _say_ so?!”

“I did! I’m pretty sure it’s one of the first things I told you!”

Victor groans, face in his hands, and stays that way for so long that Yuuri is starting to worry.

“Victor?”

“I was going to seduce you,” Victor mutters, muffled. “I’m sure your _friend_ Yuuko’s great, but could she compare to a star? I would’ve had you to myself.  But then I – I couldn’t keep you from your true love! I couldn’t _stand_ the thought of making you unhappy, I was trying s _o hard_ to be good and – it wasn’t even really an issue. I need a minute.” 

Yuuri has to bite his lip so he doesn’t laugh again, touched as he is by the confession. The light gradually comes back to Victor, settling into what Yuuri’s come to think as his normal state.

“You’ll be mine, then?” Victor asks eventually, emerging once he’s done adjusting his worldview, and Yuuri turns red.  

“I’m – I – People don’t just _belong_ to people, Victor. That’s not how things work.”

Victor pouts.

“Why not? I want to belong to you.”

Yuuri’s not sure how to qualify the noise he makes at that. It barely sounds human. Victor drops his frown to stare with interest and his voice goes lower, seductive.

“I think you would like that, too.”

Yuuri kisses him before either of them can say something even more embarrassing, and drags Victor down with him when he gets pushed back towards the bed.

 

( _Ugh, gross)_

 

Victor traces idle patterns on Yuuri’s skin as Yuuri rests on his chest, considering the future.  

“We still don’t have a Babylon Candle for you to get home.”

“Oh? It’s fine. I wouldn’t use it anytime soon, anyway.”

“You wouldn’t?”

Victor smiles down at him.

“I like it down here. The company’s nice.”

Yuuri rolls his eyes, but presses on.

“Don’t you miss it?”

“Miss what?”

“The sky. The other stars.”

“No, no. I’ll see them soon enough. What’s a century to us, really? It passes in the blink of an eye.”

Yuuri thinks he’s being rather optimistic about his lifespan. And probably not even considering the fact that Yuuri will grow _old_ long before he actually dies.

“Good,” he says, because it’s a conversation they’ll need to have, but one that can wait. Hopefully a few years.

“Good?”

“It’ll be easy to you to forget about me when I’m gone, then.”

Victor makes an outraged sound.

“You’re not _forgettable_ , Yuuri.”

Victor holds him tighter, and Yuuri thinks that they’ve done enough talking. He’s bone-tired, and has to blink rapidly to prevent his eyes from drifting closed. Thinking about the future can wait until morning, he resolves. Though there _is_ one more immediate concern –

“Victor?”

“Yes?”

“I’m glad you’re happy but could you – um, tone it down a little? It’s hard to sleep like this.”

Victor laughs, and shines brighter. Yuuri tries to scowl at him but it doesn’t take.

He sleeps just fine.

 

It’s still close to dawn when Yuuri wakes up, and starts the delicate task of extricating himself from Victor’s arms without waking him. He looks so peaceful, glow faintly visible even though it’s light out.

Yuuri sits there looking at him for a moment, thinking, and then puts on his clothes.

They’re in the town closest to the Wall, barely fifteen minutes away, and Victor probably won’t wake until long past noon. He doesn’t want to leave him when they might still be pursued, but Hasetsu is so close, and he doesn’t just want to go back home with Victor in tow without letting his parents know about him first.

Victor can be a little – much, to spring on people, so he should probably warn them.

Especially since – he’s so embarrassed just thinking about ways to explain it to his parents – but Victor could stay, might stay for a while.

Despite what Victor said about the way he perceives time, Yuuri doesn’t think he’ll want to remain there for long. He’ll get bored, in Hasetsu. He’ll get bored with Yuuri.  

Still, Yuuri will try to make the most of whatever time he gets.

He picks up a strand of Victor’s cut hair on his way out, wrapping it carefully inside a handkerchief. He’ll go see Yuuko first, he thinks, to explain about the star, and wish her a happy birthday. Maybe he can ask her if there’s something else she would like, instead.

He can’t find anything to write on to leave Victor a note, but the innkeeper agrees to pass on the message to his companion, even if he seem disgruntled to be woken up so early.

“Please let him know I’ve gone home,” he says. “ I didn’t want to wake him.”

He lingers a little in the doorway, feeling uneasy, but eventually chalks it up to nerves. It’s not every day he brings someone home to meet his parents, after all.  

 

Being back is strange, even though very little time has passed since he left, objectively speaking. The night he last stood in front of Yuuko’s house seems like a lifetime ago.

He knocks on the front door, hoping that he won’t be bothering them too much.

They’re awake, at least. He can hear laughter from inside the house.

Yuuko’s the one who opens the door, and she gasps when she sees him, hands flying to cover her mouth.

“Yuuri! You’re back! Come in! Come in!”

He’s swarmed by the triplets as soon as he steps through the door.

“Yuuri! Yuuri! Did you bring Mama a star? Where’s Mama’s star?”

“Yuuri, you look like a prince!”

“Yuuri, what is it like beyond the Wall?”

“Ah ha you’ll meet him later, I promise. He’s sleeping and I wanted to – uh. Let my parents know.”

“He?”

“Um, the star – his name is Victor, I’m sure you’ll all like him. You can imagine how surprised I was when I met him—”

He’s unwraps the strand of Victor’s hair he’d brought along to show them – and as some kind of proof that he hasn’t just lost him mind, because he knows what he sounds like.

“Here,” he says, and then freezes when the handkerchief’s contents fall apart and scatter.

“Yuuri? That’s dust.”

“That’s – it can’t be – it was –“

He can’t breathe, suddenly. He can hear Yuuko ushering her daughters away from him, but it feels distant.

Of course, Yuuri thinks. The other side of the Wall is another kind of world entirely.

Stars aren’t people, in Hasetsu.

He’s dizzy with horror at the thought of what might’ve happened if Victor had insisted on coming along with him, if he’d been up earlier.

 “What’s wrong with you?” Nishigori asks, sounding concerned.

“Yuuri? Are you okay?”

“I’m—fine. I just – I have to go back.”

“What? You just got here!”

Yuuri can’t stay. What if Victor wakes up and decides to follow him? What if he –

There’s no reason to think that he would come right away, but what _if –_

No, Yuuri can’t bear to think of it, and his mind won’t be at ease until he sees Victor again.

“I’m sorry, Yuuko! I’ll explain later! I have to warn him—“

He must sound insane, he knows, but she just lays a comforting hand on his shoulder, eyes soft.

“Whatever’s going on, Yuuri, I’m sure things will turn out fine. We’ll support you no matter what. And—it seems you’ve found something important to you, out there. I’m glad.”

“Yes,” he says. “I have.”  

 

Phichit is on the other side of the breach in the Wall when Yuuri reaches it, afraid and exhausted and bleeding from his temple. His wagon is turned over, the ground around him smoking, and a horrifying picture of what must’ve happened forms in Yuuri’s mind.

“Yuuri! Yuuri, I’m so sorry, Victor was taken! I saw him leave the inn and I followed him because he looked upset, but then – I couldn’t – I couldn’t stop them, they took him—“

“Who? Who has him, Phichit?!”

Phichit looks unsteady on his feet and Yuuri holds him up by the forearms, though he feels like he’s going to collapse, himself.

“Witches, I—I tried to fight them.”

“Where did they go?!”

Phichit frees his horses from the wagon’s tangled straps, soothing them as best he can before turning to Yuuri.

“I can track them, there’s a spell – do you have anything of Victor’s?”

 Yuuri only has the handkerchief he’d used to wrap his hair in, and he prays that it’ll be enough. It seems they’re lucky in one respect, at least, because after a few minutes of focus and mixing herbs and powders, Phichit sighs in relief and Yuuri’s nervous pacing stops abruptly.

“Okay, I’ve got it, let’s go!”

Yuuri has no idea what to do with a horse, and his discomfort is obvious enough that Phichit lets out a soft chuckle.

“Never mind, just ride with me.”

He’s so young, Yuuri thinks, and has been nothing but kind to him and Victor. If anything were to happen to him—

 “It’s—going to be very dangerous, Phichit. You don’t have to come, just show me where—”

Phichit shakes his head at him, and climbs on his horse, pulling Yuuri up behind him.

“I _really_ do, I don’t think you’d make it very far without me.”

Yuuri swallows back his protests, tries to smile. He doesn’t think he’s very successful.

Then they’re off.

 

Yuuri is half-certain that they’ll be too late, that Victor will already be dead by the time they get there. But when he and Phichit reach the ancient castle – thanks to Phichit’s tracking spell – and creep close to the windows, he immediately catches a glimpse of silver hair.

Yuuri feels like he can breathe again when he sees him, for the first time since he realised the truth back in Hasetsu.

Victor seems mostly unharmed, but he’s so, so _dull_ that it breaks Yuuri’s heart.

There are three women arguing nearby, and he recognises one of them from the inn. He shudders at the memory, because how are they going to deal with _three_ witches?

“What are we going to do?” He whispers to Phichit.

“I’ll distract them! Go get your man!”

“But –“

“Go!” Phichit says, “don’t worry about me!”

Yuuri draws his sword. The weight of it is comforting, if nothing else. It won’t do much against curses or fireballs, but he doesn’t feel quite as helpless with it in hand. He creeps in through a low window, somehow unnoticed and is hiding behind a pillar when chaos is suddenly unleashed upon the room.

Phichit’s plan, it seems, was to release the caged animals the witches keep for purposes Yuuri really doesn’t want to think about.

Judging by the howls and the screams and the burst of lights from curses once the witches see Phichit, it worked pretty well. Still, Phichit’s outnumbered, and Yuuri is going to have to be _fast_.

He heads straight for Victor, ignoring the chaos around them. Victor who still seems vacant, hasn’t even bothered to look at the fight unfolding right by him, is not looking for ways to escape, is just there on the sacrificial altar as though he’s just – bracing himself, waiting for the end.

He looks resigned. He looks _resigned_ , and Yuuri is suddenly furious with him for not even bothering to fight for his life.

Yuuri calls out to him, stealth be damned.

“Victor!”

Victor’s eyes snap open, locking onto him and widening with shock.

 “ _Yuuri?_ ”

“Victor, are you okay? I was so worried, I’m _sorry_ , what are you doing just _lying there—_ “

He’s crying by the time he reaches Victor and starts freeing him from his restraints. He has to wipe his traitorous eyes a few times to see what he’s doing, and Victor’s still not _moving_.

When he’s done Victor’s still just staring at him like he can’t possibly be there, hesitant in accepting the hand Yuuri offers him. Yuuri worries he’s been drugged, or cursed, or whatever other awful thing the witches can do.

“You came _back_ ,” Victor says eventually.

Yuuri’s not sure what he’s talking about, for a moment.

Surely he can’t mean –

Is _that_ what had Victor looking so awful? Not the fact that he was about to get gruesomely murdered, but because he’d just – assumed – like the overdramatic idiot he is –

“Of course I did. Of course – I wouldn’t just leave you!”

“I woke up and you were gone, I thought –“

Yuuri laughs through his tears.

“You’re such an _idiot_ , Victor. I just went home to talk to Yuuko and tell my parents we were coming, that you were going to live with us.”

“Oh. _Oh_. But the message! That was a very ominous message, Yuuri!”

Yuuri thinks back on it and pales.

“Okay, so we’re _both_ idiots.”

“Um, guys?! Maybe have that conversation later?!”

They’re startled out of the moment by Phichit’s shout.

Their friend is being backed into a corner, and Yuuri and Victor exchange a look. One of the witches is down for the count, but that leaves two, and one of them is headed back their way. Neither of them knows spells, and they have one sword between them.  

“The chandeliers,” Victor whispers, suddenly. “I’ll distract her, you cut those ropes!”

He pushes a knife into Yuuri’s hand – presumably the sacrificial knife, and Yuuri would really rather not be touching it.

“You know how to use a sword?”

“I learned from watching you!”

“That’s not how —oh, never mind. I should do it!”

“No, no, I’m harder to kill than you!”

The witch is closer now, and seems very unimpressed by their bickering. A curse strikes at their feet, cracking the stone around the altar. Victor and Yuuri jump apart and Yuuri ducks behind it, waiting for the right moment to make a run for it.

Victor brandishes the sword, taunting the witch as he tries to manoeuvre her into the spot where she needs to be for their frankly desperate gambit to work. He laughs as he evades the spells, quicker on his feet than a human could possibly be, and Yuuri is reminded of the way he was with the lightning.

The lightning! Chris had given him a few bolts, before they landed. The tube is miraculously still on his belt and Yuuri wonders how to use it.

He’s seen just before he reaches his goal, and can’t move fast enough to dodge the spell headed his way. Victor shouts, and Yuuri braces himself for the pain, but it doesn’t come, save for a burning feeling in his pocket and the breathlessness from being knocked down by the impact. His hand closes around the glass flower Phichit gave him. It feels a little worse for wear, but it must be what saved him. He wonders if it’ll withstand another hit.

The witch is almost in the right position, cackling at a Victor who pretends to have given up the fight – it’s pretending, Yuuri knows, because their eyes met in shocked relief, for half an instant. Yuuri crawls the last of the distance and cuts the rope. 

It doesn’t do much but make her angry, but she _is_ immobilised.

“Victor! Lightning!”

Victor’s eyes widen and he jumps away as Yuuri unleashes it. The trapped witch doesn’t have that option.

 

The last of the sisters, still battling Phichit, lets out an anguished scream, and everything stops.

“Leave!” she shouts, sounding desperate. “GO! All of you!”

It seems too good to be true, and Victor says so.

“What’s the use of having eternity, if it’s on my own?!”

Yuuri rushes over to Phichit, who looks a little worse for wear, and definitely exhausted, but is otherwise unharmed.

Victor joins them, eyes never straying from the remaining witch, but Yuuri can see the tension in his shoulders lessening by the moment. Yuuri himself feels like he’s going to collapse from the relief, except he can’t do that because he’s supporting half of Phichit’s weight.   

 

They’re almost at the door when it slams closed, and the witch _laughs_ as they’re trapped into a ring of flames.

Yuuri wants to scream.

They’re surrounded, and they’re all going to die, even poor Phichit who just wanted to help. She’s going to _rip Victor’s heart out._ She’ll have to go through Yuuri first, though, because he can’t do anything but at least he can do _that_.

 _“Why?”_ Yuuri asks, He’s so _tired_. 

“A star’s broken heart is useless,” the witch answers, smug. “He needed _hope_ to be of any use _.”_

Behind him, Victor makes that noise he does when he’s just gotten an idea. Yuuri hopes it’s a very good one, because otherwise it might be the very last.

 “Yuuri, Yuuri,” Victor says, urgently. “Look at me.”

“Victor, I’m so –“

“Marry me.”

“ _What?_ ”

“Say you’ll marry me.”

“Sure? I mean – yes. Yes, of course, whatever you want –“

Victor grins.

“Close your eyes. Phichit, you too”

Yuuri buries his face in Victor’s shoulder.

There is _light_ , and deafening screams, and then silence.

 

Yuuri blinks rapidly, stumbling away from Victor’s embrace to help up a slightly disoriented Phichit, who’d thankfully managed to protect himself somehow before Victor’s little trick.

“You couldn’t have done that _before_?”

“Hmm, no, I don’t think so. I have to be _very_ happy.”

Yuuri flushes, and Victor flares a little. Probably because he’s so pleased with himself, the jerk.

“Where’s the necklace? Victor’s necklace?” Phichit asks, as he attempts to put himself back together. Yuuri wonders why that, of all things, is on his mind.

 Yuuri spots it on the floor a little further away, lost in the fray, and bends down to pick it up.  

It turns red as it touches his skin. He must make a concerned noise, because Victor appears as though he’s been summoned.

“It hasn’t done that before,” he says from over Yuuri’s shoulder.

“Well!” Phichit says, when he sees what’s attracted their attention. “This is an unexpected turn of events!”

“What is it?”

“It seems the Ruby’s picked you.”

“Picked me for what?” Yuuri asks, baffled.

“Huh? You haven’t heard of the Ruby? It’s true you’re not from around here, but – You’re the new King of Stormhold, Yuuri!”

The three of them stare at the crimson jewel for a moment, and then Victor breaks the silence:

“Wow! I’ve always thought a royal wedding would be nice.”

Phichit claps.

“Oh! Congratulations! I could officiate!”

“Really? That’d be so kind of you! What do you think, Yuuri?

“Um.”

“Yuuri?”

“Just – give me a moment? This—is  a lot.”

Victor twists him around to press a kiss to his forehead.

“We have all the time in the world, my love.”

This does at least have the advantage of solving the issue of what Yuuri and Victor are going to do for a living, Yuuri thinks faintly, staring at the stone in his palm. After all, they can’t go back to Hasetsu.

Yuuri is going to have one hell of a conversation with his parents, though.

 “I’m so glad it chose you! I thought it might, since you won the Tournament, and you’ve more than proven your bravery tonight,” Phichit says, smile a little wistful.

“You knew what Victor’s necklace was all along?!”

“Of course I recognised it! The previous king was my uncle, I saw it all the time growing up.”

“What? You – But – you said you were a travelling magician! Take it, then! It should be yours!”

“No, no!” Phichit laughs. “That’s not how it works. The Ruby chooses the heir. I’ll help you out, if you’d like, but ruling’s not for me. I just want to make people happy with my magic! It’s why I wanted the prize money from the tournament, to open my own shop. I left the court long ago – assassination attempts are very stressful, you know?”

Yuuri pales a little, but Victor just laughs and squeezes his hand.

“Between the two of us, I don’t think it’ll be too much of a problem.”

 

( _Are they seriously going to get married?! They just met a week ago!_

_It was a very busy week though, wasn’t it?)_

 

It’s not unheard of for the King to compete in the Grand Tournament, but it’s a rarer thing for him to be competing on someone else’s behalf.

Especially when his Consort is also participating, championing _him_.

The final duel, between Victor and Yuuri, of course, is bound to be the talk of all Stormhold. So Victor says, anyway. Yuuri’s pretty sure he can hear at least Chris and Minako shouting from the sidelines, and the crowd does sound rather inflamed. He’s not paying much attention to them, eyes set on his husband.  

It’s not unlike dancing, fighting Victor. The push and pull of it, the footwork, the heated glances. The fact that Victor is the first to get tired and take a wrong step.

“I win,” Yuuri says.

“No, _I_ win,” Victor replies, with a grin.

Victor steps forward, either to concede defeat or assert his victory. Yuuri’s not sure, and doesn’t particularly care, too busy being kissed.

It occurs to him that they’re not being entirely appropriate for a public event, especially one most of their friends and family are attending, but Yuuri finds comfort in the fact that it’s probably hard to see much of anything, what with Victor shining so brightly.

It’s been a hard year, not only getting adjusted to a whole new world, but being in _charge_ of it. Phichit and Chris and his family have been invaluable, but the one person he couldn’t have done without is Victor. Victor who’s been with him through all of it, providing advice –sometimes terrible advice, mind – and support and the occasional flash of ancient wisdom.

It’s a life Yuuri couldn’t have imagined for himself even in his wildest dreams. 

But it’s his.

 

( _Aww, Georgi, are you crying?_

  _It’s just so beautiful!_

_I don’t see what you’re all so happy about. It’s still going to end in tears when the human dies._

_Yura, don’t you know? Whosoever holds the heart of a star lives forever.)_

 

Yuuri is so _old_. Old and tired. He’s stopped counting the years, keeps track of time by the fluctuating length of Victor’s hair, the only thing about him that changes. It’s a little past his shoulders nowadays, brushing over Yuuri whenever Victor leans down for a kiss.

There are a lot of people gathered around his bed.

He looks around, at their children and grandchildren, the Nishigori triplets and their own families.

He knows that the Ruby will pick the best person to be the next King, but he genuinely hopes that one of them will get to succeed him. He’s glad not to have to choose himself. He doesn’t think he could possibly decide on an heir, he loves them all so.

He smiles, fighting to stay awake.   

Victor, sitting next to him, presses a black candle into his hand.

“It’s time to go, my darling.”

Yuuri closes his eyes.

 

( _We’re home)_

**Author's Note:**

> At some point I'll run out of ridiculous ways for these two to get engaged but NOT TODAY.
> 
> Thanks for reading, I'm also ladydaredevil on tumblr!


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